Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has vowed to "learn more about systemic racism", adding that black lives matter, in remarks that come amid ongoing international protests sparked by the 25 May killing of black American man George Floyd by a white Minenapolis policeman.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Gates mentioned "the horrifying killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and far too many other Black people", which "are shining a light on the brutal injustices that Black people experience every day in policing, criminal justice, education, health care, housing, the workplace, and all other areas of their lives".
I am committed to listening and learning more about systemic racism and what I can do with my actions and words to help create a more equal and just future. Black lives matter.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) June 10, 2020
The billionaire underscored that he is committed to […] "learning more" about […] "what I can do with my actions and words to help create a more equal and just future".
Gates was referring to Black Lives Matters, the international human rights movement that grabbed global headlines after Floyd’s death on 25 May.
African American man Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was jogging in his neighbourhood in Georgia on 23 February, when he was killed in a shooting after being chased by former police officer, Gregory McMichael and his son, both of whom were white.
The two were charged in May with felony murder and aggravated assault after a police report said that McMichael mistook unarmed Arbery for a suspect in a spate of neighbourhood break-ins.
Health worker Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police who entered her home in Louisville, Kentucky without warning on 13 March, in what they said was part of a drug-related investigation. No narcotics were discovered inside the property.
Gates’ remarks come as the George Floyd protests show no sign of abating in the US and beyond, two weeks after the death of the 46-year-old, who died after white officer Derek Chauvin, held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. A video later showed the African American man saying he could not breathe.
